Defiance
by Mermes
Summary: "Take her to the cells." But she did not come quietly.


**Long story short: This was supposed to be longer and include some of Heptarian's PoV, but I accidentally deleted the file. I rewrote this in an hour and it's not as good as the original, but I tried... Oh well, fingers crossed for this to happen in the episode!**  
**Enjoy!**

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She had been afraid at first. Of course she had. Pasiphae's words seemed to echo all around her, making it impossible for her to move, to breathe, to think. She was going to die. How ironic that, only a few hours before, she had bravely proclaimed to Jason that she was not afraid of dying, and now, when her death sentence hung suspended in the air, all she could feel was terror.

"Please," she had begged, almost staggering under the weight of the Queen's words. "Please. You can't. You _can't_. _Please_." But no amount of pleading or tears had swayed the nobles, who simply looked away and pretended they could not hear her. Those actions hurt her more than she could say. These people knew her, had been there throughout her childhood and had always given her nothing but praise and kind words. Now they were strangers.

She quieted down eventually, though the tears did not stop falling. She took a deep, shaky breath and looked at her stepmother square in the eye, determined to defy her in any way she could. There was no point in being afraid now, since her fate had already been sealed.

"Take her to the cells."

She did not come quietly.

As soon as she and the two guards left the throne room, she began to struggle. She kicked and bit and scratched, screaming all sorts of obscenities that she had learned during those few times she had managed to sneak out of the palace to observe the common folk. The insults had a bitter taste and felt clumsy on her tongue, but that did not stop her. If they didn't care for their princess... Well, Ariadne wasn't going to bow down to them and make things easier.

_Crack!_

She felt the blow before she heard it. By some miracle, she had managed to make her elbow connect with the face one of the guards; said guard had immediately let her go and was now clutching his nose as blood poured from between his fingers. She watched in horrified fascination for a few moments before the other guard's painful grip reminded her of where she was. With renewed strength, she wrenched free of his hold and lunged for the other guard's sword. He did not react in time and, in the blink of an eye, Ariadne stood before them with the weapon in her hand. She tried to look more confident than she felt, for it had been a long time since she had last fought with a sword.

"Fuck..." The guard's mutter echoed in the empty hallway. He was obviously at a crossroads. What could he do? Fight the princess and risk hurting or killing her? Or do nothing and let her flee? They were too far away for any other guard to hear a plea for help, and his companion was in no condition to aid him.

Ariadne took a few steps back slowly, carefully, not taking her eyes away from the guards. She was not foolish enough to hope she would be able to escape, but she would certainly try. She was just about to turn and run when she felt the sharp tip of a blade press against her back.

"Ariadne."

_'Oh, Gods, not him.'_

She hesitated for a moment before she turned, sword held high. She managed to clash with her opponent's blade a grand total of three times before he disarmed her and the weapon flew away from her hand. In an instant, he managed to trap her in a grip so strong she knew it would be futile to attempt to break free.

"Georgios, Pyrrhus. Leave us."

The guards murmured a hasty "yes, my lord" before leaving, the one with the broken nose staggering slightly.

Ariadne did not look up, even though she was all but pressed against her captor's chest. Her wrists would be bruised the next day and her arms were going numb, but she did not give any sign that she was in pain. "Why are you here?" she asked, trying to project as much contempt as she could into her words.

Heptarian sighed, his breath tickling the top of her head. She almost shuddered. "Because I know you," he said simply, his voice devoid of emotion.

And he _did_ know her. At Minos and Pasiphae's insistence, they had spent a lot of time together when they were younger; Heptarian had even taught her all she knew about fighting. Only he and her parents knew of this, for fighting was considered improper for a woman. However, that did not change the fact that he was a monster. He reveled in violence, killed in cold blood and thought himself superior to people who, despite their non-royal blood, were infinitely better than him. Once or twice she had seen serving girls leave his chambers with a slight limp to their step, tear streaked cheeks and terror in their eyes. She felt sickened at the thought of what twisted pleasures he had sought with them.

He was Pasiphae's lapdog through and through.

"Well, do go on, then, my lord," she said mockingly. "Do your duty, take me to the cells. We do not want to keep Pasiphae waiting, do we?"

Heptarian flinched. _Flinched_. Was he hurt by her words? But why would he be? He did not care for her, not really. His kind words and gentle demeanor when he was with her were nothing but an act to please Minos. "Ariadne..." Was he actually_pleading_?

"You disgust me," she spat, finally looking up. Heptarian looked taken aback, and she caught a flash of something in his eyes. But no, it couldn't possibly be hurt... Before she had time to think of an alternative, however, he began dragging her toward the cells. The strength of his grip brought tears to her eyes, but she bit her lip. She would rather die than show weakness in front of him.

Heptarian's expression betrayed nothing as he handed her over to the guard, but he couldn't quite hide the tension in his body.

Ariadne only spared him a glance before she was led away, and that was simply to spit at his feet. It was a completely undignified action, unthinkable of an Atlantian princess.

But he deserved it.

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